The Dutch Armed Forces are composed of the Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine), the Royal Netherlands Army (Koninklijke Landmacht), the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht), and the Royal Marechausee (Koninklijke Marechausee). Some consider the Netherlands Marine Corps (Korps Mariniers) to be the fifth branch of the Armed Forces but officially the Mariniers are part of the Navy. Its military tradition started back during its war of independence (also called The Eighty Years' War) against Spain between 1568 and 1648, making this the longest standing military on Earth. After they had won Dutch ships would rule the waves for more then half of a century.
Its military in Europe was defeated by the Germans in World War II. The largest army the Dutch had, the Royal Dutch East Army, was also soundly defeated by the Japanese in Indonesia, despite out numbering the Japanese army sent to fight them almost two to one. Over 60,000 Dutch soldiers were imprisoned by the Japanese following their capture of Indonesia; of these, 15,000 were executed or worked to death. In the following occupation of Indonesia, many of the soldiers who had deserted became resistance fighters.
Today, the Dutch military is a NATO member, participating in campaigns in Afghanistan from 2002 to 2021, campaigns against ISIL in Iraq from 2014 to 2018, and in counter-piracy campaigns off the coast of Somalia. As a member of NATO, the Dutch military also took part in the interventions in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Libya.
Other notes:
The Dutch Military in Fiction & Media:
Fan Fiction
- In the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic Chrysalis Visits The Hague, The Marechaussee are featured securing the Queen's transports and guarding the area around the International Criminal Court and prison in The Hague. Also, warden Mjoberg is a former Dutch Army Cavalry Officer, leading to some brief awkwardness with fellow Captain Shining Armor (a unicorn pony).
Film
- Michiel de Ruyter shows several of the Dutch Republic's naval combats with the English Royal Navy.
- Batalha dos Guararapes features the Dutch invasions of Brazil with the Dutch East Indies Company being the main antagonists against the rebels.
Literature
- The Dutch I Corps (part of the NATO Northern Army Group) shows up as the initial opponent of General Trimenko's 2nd Tank Army in Red Army.
Live-Action TV
- The 2020 Dutch TV series Hoorvliegers (trans: "High Flyers") follows three young people as they enter the Dutch Air Force from training to deployment.
Tabletop Games
- The Dutch fleet in Victory in the Pacific has exactly 1 ship counter, the De Ruyter, and it's one of the weakest ships in the game - consequently, it's known to be one of the luckiest ships as well.
- Are an available faction in the Tabletop Wargame Team Yankee. The are comparable to West Germany in being built around tough but expensive vehicles (they are the only two factions with access to Leopard 2's, for example). Their main point of divergence is that The Netherlands prefers to make mechanised infantry the bulk of their forces, and get the YPR-765 as a unique unit, one of the best transport units in the game.
Video Games
- The Dutch Air Force appears in the 1940 campaign of Luftwaffe Commander. You even get those nice black-and-gold triangles painted on your rudder when you shoot down one of their planes.
- Version 1.2 of Project Reality added the Dutch Army as a playable faction.
- Rise of Nations: The Dutch are a playable faction in the Thrones & Patriots Expansion Pack. They are depicted as a Proud Merchant Race with armed caravans and merchants and get some unique units like the Fluyt light ship.
- Dutch navy is an avilable faction in World of Warships. True to the page's name, their first ship was a destroyer, although their first researchable line is a cruiser one.